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tv   The Ed Show  MSNBC  December 5, 2012 5:00pm-6:00pm PST

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that can no longer be relied upon to act great. i really don't want to be there. either america wins or it loses. heading off that cliff is losing, and i want the republicans to take their part in avoiding it. we need a pervasive, frightening message from the president to see they take it. we don't need a smile from this president or an inspiring speech. we need cold, awesome words of warning. we need a president to scare the dickens out of those people. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. ted show with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. president obama has john boehner boxed in and is done playing games. now it's getting good. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> let's allow higher rates to go up for the top 2%. that includes all of you. >> the president holds the line on taxes and draws the line on the debt ceiling. >> i will not play that game. >> tonight, democratic whip steny hoyer gives me the latest
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fiscal cliff developments and the democratic line on medicare. tomç perriello from the centerf american progress action fund on how democrats can deal with republicans who can't deal with reality. rubio and ryan reload with a new message for the middle class. >> both parties tend to divide americans into our voters and their voters. >> but there is no escaping their own policies. >> we're going to a majority of takers versus makers in america. >> dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz responds tonight. plus, senator barbara boxer on her new plan for national polling place standards. and a new poll shows half of all republicans think the defunct group a.c.o.r.n. stole the election from president obama. >> that's an eye opener. >> i wonder where they ever got that idea? >> you just have to wait and see what happens. good to have you with us
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tonight, folks. thanks for watching. here is are the latest. republicans are at a stalemate with the white house for debt negotiations. republicans really only have two options now, bad and worse. "the new york times" is the latest outlet to report on senior republican leaders who are ready to strike a deal. they want to push off negotiations until the debt ceiling vote next year. president obama won't have it. the president is attacking the only leverage republicans have left. the president spoke to a group of ceos today and said that he will not negotiate if debt ceiling is going to be used as ç hostage. >> i have to just tell you, that is a bad strategy for america, it is a bad strategy for your businesses, and it is not a game that i will play. so i want to send a very clear message to people here. we are not going to play that game next year. if congress in any way suggests that they're going to tie
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negotiations to debt ceiling votes and take us to the brink of default once again, as part of a budget negotiation, which, by the way, we have never done in our history, until we did it last year, i will not play that game. because we've got to break that habit before it starts. >> treasury secretary tim geithner also made it very clear, this is no game. he spoke with cnbc about holding the line with tax increases for the top 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. >> oh, absolutely. there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthy -- remember, it's only 2%. >> so the white house is eliminating the republicans' house cards. house speaker john boehner was left pretending that the democrats had not offered them a deal. >> now we need a response from the white house. we can't sit here and negotiate with ourselves. >> house republican leader eric
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cantor also seemed to forget that the white house presented a specific plan in these negotiations. >>ç where are the specifics? where are the discussions? nothing is going on. meanwhile, the people of this country are the ones that suffer. so we ask the president, sit down with us, be serious about the specifics of spending so we can stop the wasteful spending in washington and finally address the problem. >> john boehner appears to have the same form of anesthesia mitt romney was suffering from on the campaign trail. he tells supporters, if our offer is not acceptable to the president, then he has an obligation to show leadership by presenting a credible plan of his own that can pass both houses of congress. but the white house already presented a plan and the american people backed it up. democratic senators were quick to point out that republicans can pass a bill right now to extend 98% of the bush-era tax cuts. >> so it's really simple. it's there, it's one thing that
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we agree on. we need just to get it done. >> republican leaders also met with business owners today. you see, they want the business community to think that president obama is the enemy in all of this. >> although the president seems obsessed about raising taxes on you, we feel that's not the right direction to go. >> it's interesting how no one from the bibz community has said president obama is wrong in all of this. none of the ceos who met with the president of the united states today came forward and challenged the president's plan. democratic leader nancy pelosi told me last night, ceos have been veryç understanding of th plan set forth by the white house. the business community is willing to accept rate increases. they are really making more concession than john boehner. eric cantor says republicans are not going to adjourn this year until a deal is reached. is that a sign of early capitulation? he knows republicans can't go home to their districts with absolutely nothing to show for it. that's not what the american
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people voted for. john boehner says he's willing to stick around town to get a deal done? >> i'll be here and i'll be available at any moment to sit down with the president, to get serious about solving this problem. >> but president obama says john boehner's presence is not the solution, it's the problem. >> the holdup right now is that speaker boehner took a position, you think the day after the campaign, that said, we're willing to bring in revenue, but we're not willing to increase rates. and i've just explained to you why we don't think that works. >> senate majority leader harry reid has also called republicans out for sabotaging the democratic process. now, putting this all into context, he tweeted out today, harry reid did, "i share the frustration of americans lamenting the lack of progress in negotiations to avoid a massive tax increase on middle class families. but for insight into why
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negotiations have been tough,ç consider the failure of the disabilities treaty at the hands of the tea party. those are the same republicans with whom democrats are supposed to find agreement to protect middle class families from a january 1st tax increase?" who could say it better? democrats are not being unreasonable here whatsoever. they are the party of reason right now. the people have spoken. house democratic whip steny hoyer says democrats are still willing to talk with republicans about entitlement reforms. they've been on the table for some period of time. that does not mean that i'd be prepared to adopt them now. but they're clearly, i think, on the table. republicans don't want to talk about entitlement reforms. you see, they just want the democrats to roll over and give them everything they want. the president is done playing around. he has the gop right where he wants them. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think.
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tonight's question, will radical republicans ever agree to a tax hike deal? text "a" for yes and text "b" for no to 622639. you can always go to our blog and leave a comment. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me tonight, congressman steny hoyer of maryland, the house democratic whip. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. appreciate it. >> always good to be with you, ed. thanks. >> got some folks nervous talking about entitlements. when you say entitlement cuts are on the table, what does that mean and how far are you willing to go?
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we believe very strongly that we need additional revenues if we're going to get our country on a fiscally sound basis. >> and that would take us to benefits. are you willing to put benefits on the table to get a deal? >> everything needs to be on the table. when you say say, am i willing -- i want to see what the outlines are. i think even paul ryan, in the short-term, said benefits should not be on the table. i agree with that, certainly. and it depends upon what you're talking about. certainly, i think we need to make sure that the guarantee of social security and medicare is secure. and one litmus test i will have, ed, personally, is the vulnerable in america. those who are least able to participate in helping to get us out of this debt should not be asked to pay anything. very frankly, the most able among us ought to be asked to pay a great contribution so we
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can get our country on a sound footing. >> i think the democrats have made it very clear, you've got to have a rateç increase from e wealthiest americans. >> absolutely. >> but where does the debt ceiling come into this conversation? how does that come into play? >> ed, in my opinion, the debt ceiling should not come into this conversation. the debt ceiling is a phony photo, very frankly. and very frankly, from time to time, democrats have made it an item that they demagogued on and the republicans have demagogued on it as well. the fact is, the debt limit is simply a recognition of what we have already spent, what we have already decided to do. and it's irresponsible for us to say that the most credit-worthy nation is not going to pay its bills. so i would hope speaker boehner would take this off the table. i think the president's offer of taking the minority leader, senator mcconnell's suggestion, of, okay, put the burden on the president of the united states. whether it's a republican or democrat, saying we need to raise the debt limit. and if two-thirds of the
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congress, one house or the other, and both houses would have to by two-thirds disagree, it would happen. and it would happen as a result of votes by the congress of the united states to spend money and to borrow must be. not to set a debt limit at an arbitrary rate that puts our credit at risk. so i would hope that speaker banner would not make this an item of leverage, because it -- is that a deal killer? >> i think it would be a deal killer. if that becomes a leverage point. of course, we won't know that until probably some time lateç next month or early february. but i would hope that the speaker would not pursue his intention to make that a leverage point. >> congressman, when eric cantor says he needs to hear specifics from democrats, what do you say to that? >> i said on the floor today, the president of the united states has put a long list of specifics on the table.
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have put it on his budget, has put it on other proposals that he's made. the republicans, on the other hand, sent a letter to the president with five items, conclusions only, no specifics. no specifics in terms of how you raise revenue. no specifics in terms of cutting funding. and very frankly, i think they made a political judgment, they would much prefer to have the president choose those alternatives. that's not a way to negotiate. they only come up with their alternatives, the president comes up with their alternatives. put it on the table, that's my point. put everything on the table, and let's get to a place where the math works. this ought not to be an ideological problem. this is a math problem, as to whether or not we can get our country on a sound fiscal footing. >> quickly, do you think speaker boehner is worried about his job? >> well, i think that he's got a lot of people in his caucus who have got their head in the sand, very frankly, and who don't understand the realities that confront us. i think speaker boehner is trying to do -- i think he's trying to do the right thing.
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he may not agree with me on how to do it, but i think he thinks we need to make a deal. >> okay. congressman steny hoyer, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> always good to be with you, ed, thanks. >> remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts with us on twitter and on facebook. we always want to know what you think. coming up, how is president obama supposed to negotiate with republicans who won't realize reality or deal with basic facts? former congressman tom perriello, center for american progress, joining us next. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. i tell them dentures are very different to real teeth.
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paul ryan and marco rubio try to reinvent themselves as the warriors for the middle class. buy it? i'll ask congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz if their actions match up with their rhetoric. that's coming up. and the gop's attempt to create an alternate reality seems to be working. find out what almost half of republicans believe about a.c.o.r.n. and the 2012 election later in the hour. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using
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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. now, let's put this all into context here. fiscal cliff negotiations, don't you think they wouldç proceed lot faster and smoother if both sides were really dealing with reality? but, you see, the republicans, they simply are not. house speaker john boehner and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell have spent years catering to the base that believes, let's say, president obama's a socialist, and the united nations wants to take your disabled child right out of
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your home. they have votes to back it up, folks. this pitiful display of most senate republicans on the disability treaty showed once again just how far they are, and how far they are removed from reality. one democratic senator told me yesterday his office was actually getting calls from constituents with disabled children wanting to know if the u.n. would remove their children from their homes. it is manufacturing fear in the lives of americans. sometimes it's just a bald-faced lie about the facts. here's the democratic and republican opening bids on the fiscal cliff. but the revenue side of the republican proposal just doesn't match up with reality. you can't get $800 billion in revenue from lowering rates and closing loopholes and deductions. can we get on that page? it doesn't come close to adding up, unless you get rid of just about every deduction for the
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middle class that's out there. is that what this election w@c about? president obama has been clear about it all along. >> unfortunately, the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. you know, he talks, for example, about $800 billion worth of revenues, but he says he's going to do that by lowering rates. and when you look at the pamath it doesn't work. >> you see, if we lower these rates, then the job creators will go out there end and all this money to hire a bunch of people, and that's going to contribute more to the tax base. and gosh, we're just going to take care of all of our problems. we have tried this stuff, and it didn't work. when leaders mcconnell and boehner feed the base, it makes it harder for them to come around and later on lead their members towards a sane deal with the president of the united states and democrats who, by the way, won the election. let's bring in former virginia congressman, tom perriello, now the president and ceo of the
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center for american progress action fund. tom, good to have you with us tonight. >> always good to be here. >> you bet. have republican leaders boxed themselves in by catering to this fringe element out there that just doesn't want to deal with reality? >> well, i think it is a tough situation for them. but even more importantly, it's a tough situation for the middle class and working class families right now. people are headed into the holiday season and they don't know what their own personal financial future is going to look like. and the only thing stopping that from becoming clear is the house taking up the bill that's already passed theç senate, th would protect tax rates for everyone making $250,000 or less. and as you know, this isn't one fiscal cliff. this is six or seven different things that can be taken on one at a time. the middle class and the working class can be protected. the only thing preventing that from happening is the house leadership. and that's a tough situation for the republicans to be in, where they either have to show their true priority, which is to hold the middle class hostage, or
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take this piece away and be forced to show what they're really standing for. >> but if you look at the fish bowl the republicans are swimming in right now, there are a lot of sharks. you've got mitch mcconnell, who's running for re-election. you've got eric cantor, looking over speaker boehner's shoulder. he'd love to have that job. i mean, how can you get an honest broker out of the republican camp, when all of this stuff is swimming around? you've got the hard right-wing tea partyers out there. you've got mcconnell looking at possibly being in a real tough re-election. and as i said, you know, boehner, is he protecting his backside or the american people? i mean, this doesn't have the framework or the dichotomy of a good deal from their standpoint, does it? >> well, i think one of the reasons that they're on defense is the fact that the president is willing to take this fight outside the beltway. inside the beltway, there's a whole fuzzy logic that starts to apply, where you lose track of what it means to be in the middle class and how serious the economic situation is. and i think as the president continues to make that case
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about basic economic fairness, one thatç nearly two-thirds of voters in this election felt that some form of raising revenues on the highest rates made sense in order to get our fiscal house in order and make investments, and the republicans are trying to dig in on the wrong side of that. so it is a tough debate. but ultimately, this shouldn't really be about who's in leadership and boehner versus kantor. this really should be about families out across the country. and you and i know, those families are still struggling and would like to see a little bit of common sense. >> well, they've made a lot of improvement. no question about that. our economy is a lot better. we can still go a long way. i just don't believe that there is the makeup of a great deal, because you can't trust anything any of these folks say. this is one of the reasons why i believe, tom, that the republicans haven't detailed out exactly what deductions are we talking about, what loopholes are they talking about. they won't come clean with the american people on this. it's all in these vague gent
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generalities. now, president obama is not interested in taking negotiations further until republicans put a rate increase on the table. and this is where boehner is running into trouble. do you think they'll eventually put a rate increase on the table? >> they're either going to do that or take us into a very dangerous fiscal situation over the cliff. this is a loosy in the football situation and the president says, i'm not going to kick again until you show me some serious commitment. and keep in mind, this is the republican leadership that supported the $718 billion of savings in medicare that was part of the health care provisions to extend the life oç medicare, and then ran against it, as being something that was stealing money from medicare. so it's not even just a matter of putting those ideas on the table, but willing to be consistent about it. but i think what you see right now from the white house is a deadly seriousness about this balance of getting our fiscal house in order, but also making sure we make the investments in the middle class to grow, and they're looking for a partner here. they've got to have a partner who's willing to put some facts
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on the table. >> and i think your analogy of loosy and football and cartoon characters is is very apropos at this point, with the way republicans are running. finally, you have decided not to run for governor in virginia, is that correct? >> that is correct. >> why did you do that? >> well, you know, asking people for your votes is really a sacred calling. and i didn't feel called -- i did feel so inspired by this election and people coming together, including my commonwealth of virginia, sending tim kaine to the senate and president obama back. and i do think we see this new middle class coalition right now that's just astounding and changing the focus back to basic economic fairness and wondered whether maybe that new spirit in me should go back into elected politics. but i feel like i'm doing great work at the center for american progress, that is really doing a great job of trying to get that focus on economic fairness. we're going to have a great race next year and keep this debate going forward.
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>> tom per yellow lriello, grea you tonight. next, the return of the con. paul ryan and marco rubio, well, they undergo a political makeover. they're now talking about republicans working to help the middle class. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will weigh in on that and so much more to talk about tonight. then, the state republican who cause these long lines are now promising to fix the problem. we'll talk to senator barbara boxer who thinks federal reform is a much better answer. stay with us. with the spark cash card from capital one,
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about 60% of the american people get more benefits in dollar value from the federal government than they pay back in taxes. so we're going to a majority of takers versus makers in america. >> chasing ever-higher spending with ever-higher tax rates will decrease the number of makers in society and increase the number of takers. >> we do not have a nation, a majority of takers, we want to have a majority of makers. >> to hear paul ryan take it,ç sizable chunk of the american people are nothing but freeloaders, mooching off the productive folks at the top. that kind of talk made him the perfect partner for mitt romney, didn't it? but wait a minute, that was the old paul ryan, we've got a new and improved paul ryan and he's singing a much different tune. last night in his first address since the republican's defeat, romney gave some veiled criticism of his former running mate's 47% remarks by offering this.
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>> both parties tend to divide americans into our voters and their voters. let's be really clear. republicans must steer far clear of that trap. we must speak to the aspirations and the anxieties of every american. >> but you didn't. ryan made those remarks at a tribute dinner to the late congressman jack kemp, adding, he's proud of the campaign he and romney ran. ryan's pivot toward compassionate conservatism and a call to action on helping the middle class was echoed by senator marco rubio of florida. he's in on it too. in fact, rubio mentioned the middle class, what, 35 times in his speech? but dave weigel of slate points out, "rubio's many mentions of the key phrase were mostly lead-ins to boilerplate, not any policy proposals." rubio too attempted to distance himself from the 47% remarks by warning of a growing opportunity
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gap in america. >> now, i've heard it suggested that the problem is that the american people have changed. that too many people want things from government. but i'm still convinced that the overwhelming majority of our people, they just want what my parents had -- a chance. >> i'm joined by congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz tonight, of florida, chairwoman of the dnc. great to have you with us, congresswoman. >> great to be with you, ed, thank. >> now, those are two key players there on the republican party. one was on the ticket, the other was a florida senator. what do you make of this about-face and philosophical change and approach to the middle class. you buying it? >> well, it's not an about-face, not by a long shot. there is not much compassion in either of those conservatives. and you know, i think what mr. ryan and mr. rubio must think is, you know, that movie, "men in black"?
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there have been three "men in black" movies, and i think one of the coolest things about that movie that most people remember is that little device that erases people's memories. well, i think that paul ryan and marco rubio must believe that all americans have had that device used on them. because during the campaign, and even before that, paul ryan was the author of the romney/ryan budget, which increased taxes on the middle class to pay for $250,000 in tax breaks for the average person makingç more th $1 million. marco rubio went to 70 different cities in support of mitt romney and paul ryan's candidacy for president and vice president of the united states. he embraced the romney/ryan budget, repeatedly. he cast votes for it. he has embraced ending medicare as we know it. he has a record, they both do, of doing everything they could to ensure that the wealthiest, most fortunate americans have the wind at their backs and can do even better, and have done
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nothing to help the middle class. >> i find it interesting -- >> look, just because you say the words "middle class" -- sorry, go ahead. >> i find it very interesting that here's paul ryan out there talking about the middle class and now we've got to be concerned about all americans, but he's not stepping up right now saying, in the house, we could take this vote to help 98% of americans and move it forward. >> that's right. >> there's really nothing genuine about it. >> that's right. >> and i think rubio has thrown out middle class 35 times in his speech, because he's taking the available language that has been successful, that worked with the american people when it comes to policy, it's not there. what about the fiscal cliff, congresswoman? where is this all going at this hour, as you see it? where are we? >> well, you're exactly right, ed. and steny hoyer, i know, mentioned it earlier on your program. there is a bill in the house of representatives right now that is already passed the senate. if paul ryan and marco rubio and the rest of the republicans and the house and senate want to make sure that we really give a fair shot, as president obama
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has fought so hard for, to the ç that bill in the house next week when we go back into session and give that srcertainty to the middle class. then we can work in earnest together to reduce the deficit in a balanced way that will make sure we don't first throw the middle class under the bus. that whatever we put forward have spending cuts and revenue that is going to take care of the middle class and make sure that we have spending cuts and revenue that ensures that they're fair and that the math works. there has been no evidence thus far that the republicans are interested in doing that. >> this has been the perfect opportunity for them to step forward and show some leadership. the majority of americans do want this right now. congresswoman, the president has asked you to stay on as d next c chair. what is the way forward for the democrats? what's happening here? >> well, we need to continue to focus on rebuilding our economy from the middle class out. president obama talked eloquently and passionately
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during the campaign about making sure that we can get a handle on this deficit, that we can rebuild our economy from the middle class out, that we can focus on creating jobs and getting the economy turned around, and that's what he's going to be working in earnest to do. we really are hoping that we have an opportunity to work together with the republicans, to move our economy forward. >> well, this would be the time to do it, if they'll just step forward. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thanks so much. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show". >> whether you voted for the very first timeç or waited in line for a very long time -- by the way, we have to fix that. >> voter suppression across the country was a man-made disaster. senator barbara boxer has a new plan to end it and she's here tonight. a republican billionaire breaks, basically admitting he should have supported president obama. we'll tell you who the big donor is, ahead. and a new poll finds that
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49% of republicans believe a.c.o.r.n. stole the 2012 election. the only problem is, a.c.o.r.n. closed the doors in 2010. karen finney on the informed electorate in the republican party. ♪ i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios
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378 pre-dawn starts and a lot of birthdays, caroline still looks amazing. you can challenge what's possible thanks to the trusted performance of olay. 60 years, millions of women, real results. let us vote! let us vote! >> and we are back. republicans in several states are promising election reforms right away. they promise to prevent these incredibly long lines in the future. here's the problem. those same republicans created those long lines in the first place. now, we've shown you how people waited for hours to cast ballots in virginia and ohio. the long lines were even longer in florida, where some voters waited up to seven hours. the problem grabbed the president's attention on election night.
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>> whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line forç a very long time -- the way, we have to fix that. >> yes, we do. so today, united states senator barbara boxer from california introduced the l.i.n.e. act. it would require an election commission to set new national standards by january 1st, 2014. the commission would decide the minimum number of voting machines, workers, and other resources needed for an election. it would keep voters from waiting longer than one hour to cast is ballot. but some republicans want to handle the problem themselves. pennsylvania republicans, for instance, they want to change the number of electoral votes. down in the state of florida, secretary of state acknowledges that there were election problems, but he won't explain why voters had to stand in line
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for seven hours. >> -- what are you going to be using to determine what is a hyperperforming versus an underperforming county? >> that's a very general term, and i don't want to get into the specifics. >> and the ohio's secretary of state is in a complete state of denial. john husted spent months fighting democrats in court so he could shorten voting hours and days. >> it's kind of like criticizing the cook who delivered a great meal. you may not like the process where we got to this point, but it ended up working out just great. we could have looked like florida, however we looked like ohio. >> husted says ohio didn'tç lo like florida? but if we ignore the people wearing coats in the video, the lines along pretty doggone identical, don't you think? the republicans tried to suppress the vote with shorter hours, longer ballots, and tougher voter i.d. laws. these voters refused to be intimidated. those same republicans cannot be trusted to fix the problem they
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created. let's turn tonight to california senator, barbara boxer. senator, great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. when do you do election reform? well, i think when there's not an election going on and people are paying attention. i want to thank you for doing this. this has been a story that we have spent countless hours on, leading up to the election. but how do you see the federal government setting standards? what does the l.i.n.e. act do for states like ohio and florida, where there have been problems? >> well, first, thank you for all the work you've done on this. i'll tell you, my heart sank when i saw those lines, because i thought back to the '04 election in ohio. and i don't know if you know this, but i actually stalled the electoral college vote, because i was so incensed when i learned that in minority precincts in ohio, people waited for 12 hours to vote and many gave up. it was pouring down rain. this is really disen frn fraen .
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so the congress has theç perfe right to get involved in setting standards. i'm proud that the states are going to do it. good for them. i'm happy they're ready to fix it. but they have to work with us. and i hope the l.i.n.e. act passes. now, just in case it's obstructed or there may be a filibuster or two around it, i've written a letter to eric holder, our attorney general, saying i think when you have to stand in line, as you pointed out, in this election, up to seven hours. and i spoke to people in florida who were on the line after mitt romney had conceded and they just stood on the line to make sure that florida went for our preside president, you've got a real serious problem. so we're also asking the attorney general to go into those areas, those states, those counties, those cities that had exceptional problems and work with them on a remedial plan
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that can go into place right away. >> senator, who would be against standards to make sure people vote? >> ed, i don't know anymore. who would be in favor of going off a fiscal cliff to protect the billionaires? what can i tell you? we are living in a strange and beautiful country. but i don't know who could be against this. but we'll see how this goes with this law. >> now, this would put -- >> yeah? >> this would put more machines in places and more personnel in places to alleviate the problems of long lines? this would be federally resourced andç there would be more oversight, federally, on this? >> what we would do is it would set national standards. we hope that the commission would say, working with the attorney general, that it's unreasonable to stand on line for more than an hour. and therefore, here are the number of machines you have to get, the number of people you need to put in place, and we'll work, state by state, to make
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sure that this happens. you know, early voting will take care of a lot of this. in california, we're a huge state. we don't have a lot of problems, because so many people vote early, and by absentee. and as you know, that's a whole another issue. and that is part of this l.i.n.e. act as well. because we don't need to spend a lot of money on machines if people vote early. it lessens, you know, the flow on election day. >> but there's such an emphasis on turnout, there's more and more people voting all the time and we've got to be able to accommodate it. >> without a doubt. >> senator, great work. i'll follow up on this. i'll keep track of what republicans are against it, but of course the chances are it's probably going to get filibustered again. senator barbara boxer, thanks for your time tonight. appreciate it. coming up, we'll play a game of guess the megadonor. stay tuned. ♪ [ male announcer ] campbell's green bean casserole.
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it's amazing what soup can do still to come, why do almost half of republicans in this country believe an organization that shut down in 2010 stole
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this year's election? i'll talk to karen finney about the gop's alternate reality and the role fox news plays. ♪ don't know what i'd do ♪ i'd have nothing to prove ♪ i'd have nothing to lose ♪ i'd be all lost at sea ♪ with no reason to make it through ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the celebration diamond collection. ♪ if it wasn't for you [ male announcer ] diamonds so expertly cut, we guarantee them for life. zales is the diamond store. let love shine. or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use. it's the ultimate combination
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welcome back to "the ed show." let's play a game of guess the mega donor. our mystery donor said the following in a recent interview. "i'm pro-choice, abortion shouldn't be brought up as a political issue. i'm pro-dream act. i'm in favor of a socialized-like health care." logically you would assume a mystery donor would be somebody that would give their money to the obama campaign. well, we'd be wrong on that. our pro-choice dream acting supporting fan of socialized health care, mystery mega donor is none other than billionaire casino mogul sheldon adelson. that's right, you remember that guy. the man who shelled out nearly $150 million on republicans during the 2012 elections. in an interview with "the wall
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street journal," adelson admits he's basically a social liberal, a social liberal who has vowed to double down on his donations to republican campaigns, obviously unphased by his sweeping losses on election night. so what drives a social liberal to become the kingmaker of the republican party? during the election, adelson told politico, one of his motivations was self-defense. adelson's las vegas sands corporation was under two federal investigations for possible money laundering in las vegas and a possible violation of bribery laws, with the company's ventures overseas in china. adelsonç claimed that after he became heavily involved in the election process, was really throwing out the money, the government began leaking information about the federal inquiries in an effort to vilify him. while romney wasn't in a position to help him out this time, sources say that adelson plans to visit washington in the coming week, where he's arranged hill meetings with at least one house gop leader and is expected
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to discuss possible changes to the foreign corrupt practices act, the anti-bribery law, that has been -- that has the feds looking into his casino network. well, for sheldon adelson, losing an election cost $150 million. but controlling the pursestrings of people in charge of writing the laws may have broken his promise. priceless, should i say. tonight in our survey, i asked you, will radical republicans ever agree to a tax hike? 11% of you say yes. 89% of you say no. the great thomas jefferson once said, a properly functioning democracy depends on a well-informed electorate. if he was right, new polling shows that we are in deep trouble. karen finney weighs in on the factually challenged republicans, next. ♪
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... what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. and in the big finish tonight, some scary new poll numbers from public policy polling show republicans are living, basically, on another planet. 49% of republican voters say the community organizing group a.c.o.r.n. stole the 2012 election from president obama. the number is down only three points from the 2008 election. the problem is, folks, a.c.o.r.n., they shut their doors back in 2010.
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these poll numbers are absolutely shocking. but if you look at where republicans get their news, some sense can be made of all of this. in 2012, foxnews.com and its fringe sister site, fox nation, did five stories related to a.c.o.r.n. the fox news effect is nothing new, as long as fox news and right-wing talkers push information, the problem will continue. meanwhile, these poll numbers also show republicans are can't handle losing the election. 25% of republican voters say that they wantç to succeed fro the union. and 19%, well, they're not really sure yet. it's safe to say that republicans are no longer the party of patriotism. a quarter of their members want nothing to do with this country. these misinformed republicans love to talk about our founding fathers. don't they always quote our founding fathers, those tea partyers out there?
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tonight identi've picked a quotm sheldon adelsoadelson's new boo. madison wrote, "a popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. knowledge will forever governor ignorance. and a peep who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." they were pretty smart back then. for more, let's turn to karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director. karen, 49% of republicans think a.c.o.r.n. stole this election. we've got a lot of work to do, don't we, houston? >> yeah, we sure do. >> what do you make of this? >> you know what, ed, the point that you were just making, i mean, it's funny and it seems
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ludicrous, but at the same time, we know that the kind of misinformation campaigns that fox news and this çright-wing, sort of smear machine engage in, it can be very dangerous. i mean, earlier in the show, you talked about people who were calling in to members of congress, asking if their disabled child was going to be taken away by the u.n. that's the kind of fearmongering and scare tactics. it's why -- remember, there was that poll, what was it, 50 some percent or something in the south think that the president is, you know -- wasn't born in this country. that's how these things get perpetuated. is if, you know, these guys keep on these stories and keep treating them like they're real and keep creating these boogiemen. >> 27% of americans support the simpson/bowles deficit reduction plan and 16% oppose it. now, we need to point out there that is no such thing as the
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panetta/burns plan, but 8% support it and 17% oppose it. this really shows a disconnect. you can make things up and get people to believe it. pretty scary. >> that's right. you can make it up, say it a couple of times, people may hear it on the radio, read it on a website and think, oh, it must be true. there is an element to this. i bet you, ed, we could probably get 20% support the schultz/finney plan as well, but there is a point at which it really becomes dangerous. and i do think we're getting to a point where theseç guys real need to be held to greater account. because as we know, this kind of misinformation, it's not only damaging towards our democracy, but there can be real, dangerous consequences by creating these real negative stereotypes and creating, again, these boogiemen. >> no doubt. but let's be very clear here tonight that you would be on top of that ticket. that would be finney/schultz.